SHANGHAI, March 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mason Baxter announces that, as part of an update to its corporate social responsibility program in 2017, it will begin making a number of bursaries available to underprivileged and disadvantaged students who are attending or planning to attend universities in Shanghai.

The Shanghai, China-based broker-dealer adds that, as an expansion on the plan, it will offer internships and, possibly, full-time, permanent employment to students demonstrating exemplary performance in their studies.

Mason Baxter's Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, says he regards the company's corporate social responsibility program as an extremely important investment.

"There's little doubt that the investment management and financial services industry can be highly lucrative. It generates wealth, contributes significantly to governmental revenues and creates millions of jobs worldwide so it seems only right and fitting that the industry should give something back by way helping those who aren't as fortunate as many in our field," he explains.

Though the full terms of the company's amended corporate responsibility prospectus will not be published until later in 2017, it has been determined that Mason Baxter will offer bursary awards of up to a maximum of $10,000 per annum. These will only be offered to students studying degrees in numerate subjects like economics, mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology.

"We will undertake vetting procedures to determine their eligibility using proprietary financial hardship guidelines we'll establish at the outset but it is our intention to focus only on those with the necessary grades who are genuinely in need of assistance."

Mason Baxter expects competition for the bursaries to be fierce while the company indicated that they envisaged difficulty when it came to selecting candidates for the internships and permanent roles up for grabs at the organization in the future.

"Although the permanent roles Mason Baxter are highly-sought after, we genuinely believe that it is the commitment they make right now that will ensure they're capable of succeeding in whichever vocation they choose once their studies are complete."